sklein@cdp.UUCP (08/13/89)
>It is possible to connect a LaserWriter directly to a Mac using a round >8 pin to round 8 pin cable, thereby avoiding the extra cost of two LocalTalk Since this seems to be widely known, and easy to do, why does APDA sell an Asynchronous LaserWriter driver for the Mac? What possible use does this product have? -shabtai
earleh@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Earle R. Horton) (08/14/89)
In article <141200071@cdp> sklein@cdp.UUCP writes: > >>It is possible to connect a LaserWriter directly to a Mac using a round >>8 pin to round 8 pin cable, thereby avoiding the extra cost of two LocalTalk > >Since this seems to be widely known, and easy to do, why does APDA sell >an Asynchronous LaserWriter driver for the Mac? What possible use does >this product have? > -shabtai Here is one possible use: |-----| | MAC |-------\ |-----| \ |----------| \----| | |----| | SWITCH |--------| LW | /----| | |----| |---------| / |----------| | BRAND X |-------/ |---------| Switches that will connect two or more computers, one at a time, to the same peripheral can be an economical solution in some situations. If the cost of outfitting BRAND X with a LocalTalk interface is several times that of the serial line switch, then the Asynchronous LaserWriter driver might be just the ticket. Earle R. Horton
jness@umn-d-ub.D.UMN.EDU (Joel Ness) (08/15/89)
From article 39718 of comp.sys.mac: >>It is possible to connect a LaserWriter directly to a Mac using a round >>8 pin to round 8 pin cable, thereby avoiding the extra cost of two LocalTalk >Since this seems to be widely known, and easy to do, why does APDA sell >an Asynchronous LaserWriter driver for the Mac? What possible use does >this product have? > -shabtai Well, I thought I knew a reason for ordering the Asynchronous driver when I ordered it from APDA a few weeks ago, but I haven't got it to work yet. I've got a department that wanted to let a couple of Macs hook in to their electronic printer switch box which is currently letting a bunch of PCs share a LaserWriter. This means Postscript, but no AppleTalk. I guess I could have hacked with it a little longer, but I finally gave up. I was using a Mac modem cable with a null modem adapter on the end hooked up to the LW's DB25 port. I could send Postscript using Kermit just fine, but I never could get an application to find the LW. I was using the Direct.ACL script which I thought should have worked without modification. I'm not even sure if this would have worked for the department in question (gotta get them to Appletalk those puppies), but I was kind of interested in seeing how the Asynch driver worked. Oh well... Anybody had any experience with making this thing work? Any further tips or suggestions? (Oh yeah, the thing also has scripts for letting the Mac automatically dial out through a modem to call a LW hooked up to another modem. I guess that might be its main usefulness). Joel Ness INTERNET: jness@ub.d.umn.edu Information Services BITNET: JNESS@UMNDUL University of Minnesota, Duluth